October 25, 2007

WS 2: Red Sox 2, Rockies 1

Well, I stand up next to a mountainI chop it down with the edge of my hand

The Rockies took a quick 1-0 in the top of the first when Curt Schilling's fourth pitch grazed Willie Taveras's left hand, Matt Holliday's line drive glanced off Mike Lowell's glove and rolled into foul terriroty, and Todd Helton grounded out to first.

Boston tied the game in the fourth: Lowell walked, hustled to third on J.D. Drew's single to right (he reached base four times in four trips) and tagged and scored on Jason Varitek's fly to center. The Red Sox took a 2-1 lead with two outs in the fifth: David Ortiz walked, Manny Ramirez singled to left and Lowell doubled into the left field corner.

Holding that 2-1 lead in the top of the sixth, Schilling had trouble getting loose and surrendered a single and a walk with one out. Terry Francona did not mess around -- now in full playoff mode, Tito pulled the trigger earlier than he normally would during the season. G38 was at only 82 pitches, but it was time to summon the members of the Black Pearl.

Hideki Okajima got Garrett Atkins on a grounder to Kevin Youkilis and the runners moved up to second and third. But Brad Hawpe was overmatched -- swinging at strike one, looking at strike two and swinging at strike three. Crisis averted.

Jeemer needed only 11 pitches in the seventh: Troy Tulowitzki popped to right, Yorvit Torrealba grounded to short and Ryan Spilborghs struck out looking. In the eighth, Okajima struck out Taveras looking and Kaz Matsui swinging. With four outs remaining, Francona went to Jonathan Papelbon.

On an 0-2 pitch, Holliday smashed a line drive past Bot that Dustin Pedroia dove and gloved behind second, but he had no play. No matter. Bot immediately picked Holliday off first, catching him napping by some two or three feet to end the inning. In the ninth, Snuffer struck out Helton, got Atkins to line out to Jacoby Ellsbury in center and he fanned Hawpe.

And so the Red Sox are two wins away from another World Series championship. It feels inevitable -- and easy -- and fun.

The bottom of the lineup returns to its usual form -- with Drew at #6 ahead of Varitek and Ellsbury back at #8, with Lugo at the bottom.

BP's Joe Sheehan believes that Coco Crisp's "knee injury is a convenient cover for the fact that 2008 has come early in Boston. Ellsbury is this team's center fielder right now".

Over their last four games -- three must-wins and the opening game of the World Series -- the Red Sox have outscored their opponents 43-6. They are also the first team in baseball history to score 10+ runs in three consecutive post-season games.

gonna have to have...sushi? before saturday's game. i think it will be a home made meal, woo d-pedskis! anyway, yeah - home made meal probably. will just include the usual spinach and japanese eggplants i think. along with some polar bear shots pregame maybe???

Sosock, I looked up the Sweet Caroline story a few weeks back when my daughter asked about it. It was just sort of a random song that the then music director at Fenway played at various times. Then, I think in 2004, it became a regular 8th inning tradition. But there was no particular reason originally. No Boston connection at all. I guess the crowd liked it, and the rest is history.

Love the Sweet Caroline tradition.Always wondered where it started.I've seen at Fenway and at several college campuses.

me too actually. i think it was a bar thing before being done at fenway. tho i'm not sure. i remember singing it with friends as early as 93. i'm sure it goes back way farther than that lol. but not sure when or where.

Fans of the pitcher have taken to using the phrase "Habeas Corpas" - a pun on the writ of Habeas Corpus - to refer to both Corpas himself as a nickname and to the great aid he generally offers the Rockies with his effective closing ability.

Well, Denver should be interesting. At least the Rockies kept it closer tonight. I will be watching the Saturday game with "ppl" as Tim likes to say. Friends down here in DC who are still loyal to the Sox despite the relocation.

lol...coors light to me = water. i actually was at a bar over the summer (inside), saw a waitress bringing out a pitcher of water to the patio and said "oh look! someone ordered coors light!" she was like "huh" and went outside and delivered the pitcher...as she came back in the door was like "hahahahaha!"

so stoked for this weekend! got the haüs to myself - bigass place, probably like 0.5 mil - ppl im rentin from are goin to new yohk for the weeknd. should be a good weekend! food and wine basically! with a pregame shot of Johnnie here n there, and a beer taboot, see y'all saturday! sorry for using that shit "y'all" but it really is a good word to say something to the general crowd of a place....eeeee.... anyway night!

Oh Yeah! We're halfway to my prediction (Sox in 4, to those who haven't been paying attention- which is probably everyone...). And, the Spiders' Den mojo is proving plenty strong- 5/5 Glenfiddichs for me.

BTW, my nails are bitten down. Now that was a well-pitched game. Oh, and I love playoff Tito. He's the man.

so stoked for this weekend! got the haüs to myself - bigass place, probably like 0.5 mil - ppl im rentin from are goin to new yohk for the weeknd. should be a good weekend! food and wine basically! with a pregame shot of Johnnie here n there, and a beer taboot, see y'all saturday! sorry for using that shit "y'all" but it really is a good word to say something to the general crowd of a place....eeeee.... anyway night!

cool so we're all invited over right? haüs-party? ;D

ps. nothing wrong with y'all. i'm about as anti-hick as they come yet i love throwing it out there once and awhile :)

redsox.com headline below pic of Schill reads "Commander in Chief." Terrible! Change that! (Unless they were just looking for a "command"-related pun and totally didn't think of the fact that Curty likes Dubya. But I doubt it.

2-0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It doesn't have the same feel as 2004... And that's awesome! Because it's just as fun.

Well turns out I won the toss, hence my lack of blog posts. It was a great game, a little cold, but still a good game. The crowd went nuts for the Bot and so did I. Our offense needed some work trying to get through the gaps but we got what we needed for the win.

Turns out my brother didn't really want the ticket anyway. He had work tomorrow and since he was late in the morning. I still feel good about offering him the ticket, but he insisted I go when I pressed giving him the ticket anyway. At least he's getting a good night's sleep unlike me.